State of the City: Paramount moves forward despite loss

PARAMOUNT - Despite challenging times, the city of Paramount is financially sound.

That was the message from Mayor Daryl Hofmeyer at the State of the City luncheon Thursday.

"The biggest story in the city of Paramount is the loss of redevelopment. It was the best thing to ever happen in the city of Paramount," he said. "Losing redevelopment will create new challenges for us."

California's redevelopment agencies allowed local governments to keep more property tax revenue and put the money toward developing and improving blighted areas. However, last year the state moved to eliminate the agencies, local governments sued, and the California Supreme Court last month upheld the action, putting an end to redevelopment Feb. 1.

Redevelopment funding transformed the city and was a key element in its progress, Hofmeyer said.

"Over the past three years through tough economic times we took action with responsible restructuring and cost-cutting measures," the mayor said. "These did not eliminate any of the services that we provide for our citizens, for programs in our communities that they've come to expect."

Redevelopment literally built the city to where it is today, said City Manager Linda Benedetti-Leal.

"The Paramount RDA was a responsibly run agency that spent its funds on cleaning up and converting old polluted industrial sites, constructing infrastructure, bringing in commercial development, and increasing and improving the community's housing stock," she said. "It started an upward trend in the quality of life for this community that has not stopped. And its loss will affect how we do business in the city going forward."

City officials, however, vow to minimize the impact of the loss, Benedetti-Leal said.

"Any way you look at it, the loss of redevelopment is a blow to Paramount and a game changer for our future," she said. "Our destiny truly is in our own hands, now more than ever."

On the financial side, Paramount has seen a full year of increases in sales tax revenue, which was up 10 percent past year over the prior year, Benedetti-Leal said. The city posted the ninth-largest gain in property tax valuations in the county at 2.9 percent.

Building permits were up by 36 percent, which showed a growth in construction, she said.

"Organizationally, we ended last fiscal year with a small surplus of $45,000," she said. "After two years of utilizing a very modest amount of reserves to balance our budget, we were back in the black."

Crime was also down in the city, said Benedetti-Leal.

"We had a 26 percent drop in serious crimes compared to last year. We had only one homicide, which was the result of a domestic dispute," she said.

The Paramount Unified School District also had a glowing report, despite facing its own financial challenges.

"There has been a rise in our academic performance index every year for the last seven years," said David Verdugo, superintendent of Paramount Unified School District.

Overall, city and school leaders seemed optimistic about the future.

"We will not go backward," Hofmeyer said. "I know Paramount will continue to grow and prosper."